Nanoparticles can be used for many purposes in coatings. For example, “hard” nanoparticles can be included in coatings to impart mar and/or scratch resistance, and pigment nanoparticles can be used in coatings to impart color. Nanoparticles have a relatively large surface area, however, and will therefore often agglomerate in a coating. While this agglomeration can be avoided to some extent by the use of grind vehicles, dispersants, and the like, the presence of these components in the coating can have negative effects on the function and appearance of the coating. Accordingly, there is a need for coatings having nanoparticulate dispersions in which these drawbacks are minimized if not avoided. There is a particular need for such coatings for application to flexible and/or drawable substrates; upon distortion, elongation, and the like that such substrates undergo, micron-sized particles or agglomerated nanoparticles can often distort the coating surface causing both appearance and performance issues. Accordingly, there is also a need for flexible and/or drawable substrates having coatings in which the distortion caused by particles is minimized, if not eliminated.